Here's to good company xx
by CaptainKayleigh
Summary: Hey, This is my first fan fiction, so please be gentle. This story is based around a character I created to be part of the Avengers team. Long story short, her name is Astrid, AKA Aquarius, and she's a mutant. You'll get an idea of some of her powers as you venture through the story, which begins with the Avengers deciding on what do with their night off. I hope you enjoy. x


**Here's to Good Company.**

The half crescent moon hung high up in sky on the warm spring Saturday evening; all was peaceful within the city far below, and taking full advantage of a rare bit of free time were the Avengers, who congregated in the most used room of the formerly named STARK building, the 24th floor kitchen.

They'd been discussing at great length what to do with the spare night ahead of them; and after several cups of coffee, a bottle of whiskey and a temper tantrum later, the debate ended with the mutual consensus being to spend a night in; after which an even longer chat ensued, with what to do with their night in.

A few suggestions were thrown around, including doing shots and other various drinking games. Strip poker was immediately vetoed by Natasha, and swapped for black jack. Then a bet was made stating the first one of them to pass out from alcohol abuse, was to be hailed lightweight of the group for all time.

There were even talks of a trophy.

All of these were of course Starks ideas, everyone else was happy with a takeaway meal and an action movie but alas, this wasn't good enough for Tony.

"Come on!"

Moaned the playboy, who stood in the centre of the seated team.

"Someone do a shot with me! The tequila was flown in first thing this morning from Mexico."

Stark looked onward to Clint and Natasha, who were perched on a pair of stools by the counter to his right; both ignored him while waiting patiently for Steve, who was seated on another stool next to them, to finishing thumbing his way through the Chinese takeout menu.

Not getting the response he wanted, Tony turned to Banner and Thor resting on the back of the sofa to his left.

"How about you Goldilocks? Green Machine?"

Thor was the only one seemingly on board with the request, even if he didn't approve of his nickname; however a passing glance from Banner calmed him immediately.

"No Thor, Just no."

Bruce shook his head vigorously at the Asgardian, pushing the steel rimmed glasses up the bridge of his nose.

The Norse God pouted slightly, shook his head at Stark and took a hearty gulp of ale from his steel tankard. Tony now, in an act of total desperation, peered around the giant trunk of Thor to Loki, who sat quietly behind his brother in the armchair, feet resting on the coffee table, swirling red wine round in a glass goblet.

He appeared almost offended Tony would even dare to ask him to share in a drink; so he said nothing opting to glare moodily at the metal man.

"Psssttt! Bunch of letdowns! You can all kiss my ass! Where's AJ? She'll drink with me!" AJ! AJ?

Tony span round, searching the room for the seventh member of the team. "Where the hell is she?"

"She was here earlier."

Natasha's eyes roamed the kitchen, with everyone else's.

"Did anyone see her leave?"

Nobody answered.

"Well this is just embarrassing,"

Piped Clint facetiously.

"Fine bunch of crime fighters we are! We can save the world from Aliens, infiltrate hostile environments, and apprehend dangerous terrorists, but not one of us notices when someone leaves the room."

"Pretty ironic statement coming from someone named 'Hawkeye'."

"SHUT UP STARK!"

"That's enough guys."

Steve interrupted their squabbling.

"Should one of us maybe go check-?"

"WHOA! WHOA! WHOA!"

Rogers was cut off sharply by Tony, who'd spotted a flash of movement outside the kitchen.

"And where do you think you're going young lady?"

All wandering eyes now fell in the direction of the door, as the tall silhouette of the missing Avenger materialized from the darkness.

A loud "YOWSAH!" chimed from Clint, whose eyebrows rose so far up they nearly flew off the top of his head. Thor almost dropped his beverage as well as his jaw, Dr. Banner mirrored the same reaction, making the glasses slip back down his Roman nose; a high pitched squeak came from Loki when he spilt wine down his green shirt, and Steve's innocent eyes popped from their sockets, the reaction also caused him to rip the takeaway menu in half.

Astrid was dressed to the nines: adorning a tight fitting light blue single sleeved dress: the clingy material snaked up from her left wrist to the shoulder, where it crept across her ample chest, looping down under the right arm showing off her delicate collarbone along with a slender neck. Sky blue fabric weaved downward hugging at the rest of Astrid, bringing out every curve and arch of her well toned body, as well as complimenting her svelte, sun-kissed legs; at the end of which were ten perfectly pedicured toes wrapped in blue diamante leather slip on sandals. A pair of quirky turquoise and silver studded starfish earrings shone from her lobes, along with the three diamond studs in her triple helix piercing; Astrid's long soft, golden wavy locks were pulled up into a loose knot on the back of her head showing off her striking features; rose tinted blusher and lip gloss gave definition to the sharp cheekbones and sumptuous pout, while silver and grey dusty eye shadow, partnered with slick black eyeliner and velvety mascara helped encase and capture her intense magical eyes. It was safe to say Dr. Darius looked phenomenal.

"WOW! Astrid, you look amazing!"

Natasha complimented her female friend.

"Thanks Tash."

The pink powder dusted on Astrid's face now helped to emphasize her blush as well as her cheekbones. Strangely enough, the confidence exuding from her attire didn't quite match the somewhat underlying element of shyness, which surrounded the blonde superhero; and she kept herself in very close proximity to the door fiddling with her sleeve.

Not even attempting to conceal the massive grin sprawled across his face, Tony sauntered playfully towards his old friend; taking Astrid by the hand, Stark yanked her into the room, unable to resist the urge to twirl her round like a ballerina allowing them all to see the full affect of how stunning she looked.

Steve felt himself blush; the red hotness washed over his features like a tidal wave, and he hid in the torn menu before anyone noticed.

"Well someone is looking quite spectacular."

Tony teased.

"Does our lovely AJ have a date tonight?"

He then proceeded to dance with the fidgety blonde, swaying slowly back and forth to invisible music; Astrid scoffed sarcastically at his assumption.

"Ooo! A date Astrid! You kept that quiet."

Natasha also jumped on the teasing bandwagon.

"Come on tell us more!"

They all began chirping noisily at the water bearer like rowdy school children, begging for more scraps of information.

Cap listened to the twittering behind him; a small flicker of annoyance shot through his body; he felt uncomfortable with the team taunting AJ, and with Stark parading her around like some sort of new toy.

However, coupled with his current irritation towards his fellow teammates, Steve admittedly found himself feeling more envious at the thought of another man alone with Astrid.

"No it's not a date."

The elemental explained. Her response stopped them all in their tracks, as well as putting Steve at ease.

"I'm meeting up with an old girlfriend from the academy."

Another "YOWSAH" escaped Clint, promptly followed by a yelp when he received a punch in the arm delivered by the red head seated on his right.

Granting Natasha with a nod of approval, AJ continued.

"She's in port for the weekend, she called me up, and invited me out for a few drinks."

"That's nice and you look great."

Said Banner, pushing his specs up for the second time to their rightful spot.

"Thank you Bruce."

Astrid shot him a smile from her glossed lips. Ever Mr. Suspicious, Tony remained unconvinced. As legitimate as her words may have sounded to the others, Stark always prided himself on knowing undoubtedly when Astrid was hiding something. So in the somewhat drunken state he was already in, Tony set out to prove she had another agenda.

"So what's this friends name?"

He eyed the mutant curiously.

"Anna."

Astrid answered without hesitancy, which he wasn't expecting.

"Anna what?"

"Anna Jackson"

"How comes I've never heard of her?"

"Probably because I've never mentioned her."

"Well why wouldn't you? Sounds a tad shady, I mean you know about all of my friends."

"That's because all of your friends, besides Happy and Pepper, are all seated in this room."

This was a fair enough statement.

"We're his friends?"

Clint asked Natasha.

"I'm not."

Loki popped up over his brother's bulky shoulder with his hand in the air. Astrid glanced quickly over to the illegitimate heir.

"My apologies."

"I don't like any of you."

"QUIET ANTLER BOY!"

Stark hollered.

"I'm sleuthing!"

Muttering something inaudible, and non-repeatable under his breath, Loki scowled and buried his nose back in his wine.

"So where were we?"

Astrid rolled her eyes.

'You were sleuthing dear."

"Ah yes! So, where did you meet?"

"We were stationed on board HMS Rascal together. Anna is in communications."

She could see Stark becoming flustered. Lowering her gaze, she fluttered her delicate eyelashes, and flashed the man of Iron a crooked grin.

"Don't say you don't trust me, Tony?'

"I trust you with my life AJ you know that, but I kinda feel like you're hiding something from your old friend."

Shaking her head at the accusation Astrid took a step closer to him.

"You're all more than welcome to come with me and meet her if you'd like."

"Sounds like a brilli-AKK!"

From out of nowhere, a perfectly aimed peanut propelled over Astrid's left shoulder, hitting Tony directly at the back of the throat stifling his words, causing him to choke.

Astrid and the rest of the gang glanced round at Clint, sitting nonchalant on his seat, trying to discreetly push away a bowl of KP's best dry roasted.

"A nice gesture AJ, but we'll be ok here, go enjoy your evening with your friend." Ordered the archer.

"Good shot Clint. Thanks, now I've got to go."

"YAK! Errgh! I still have a question!"

Tony coughed and spluttered, spitting the half chewed peanut out onto the carpet.

"What Tony?"

The tone in Astrid's voice now sounded exacerbated. She folded her arms at her waist, and began to believe escape was futile.

Pointing his short finger in a "Wait one moment" fashion, Stark wolfed down a generous swig of whiskey to clear his throat of any remaining peanut remnants.

"So, this friend, this...?"

He waved his hand about in the air trying to recall the woman's name.

"Anna."

"ANNA! Yes! There's something else I need to know!"

"And that is?"

"Is she hot?"

Everyone in the surrounding party groaned, shook their heads or glared at him disapprovingly; Tony didn't care, and proceed to laugh solely at his question.

Luckily for him, Pepper was on the opposite side of the country in L.A on business, otherwise she might have bounced him off the nearest wall.

"Hey!"

Astrid ceased his giggle with a stern stare, grasping his bearded, dimpled chin between the index finger and the thumb of her left hand.

"Its irrelevant, she's amazing, you're taken, and I'm late."

She kissed Stark on his forehead, leaving a perfect imprint of her pink lips in the middle, before addressing the other members of the household.

"Right guys. I shall bid you adieu, have fun."

Kissing the only other female member on the cheek, a chorus of different voices chirped noisily with enthusiasm back at her in reply, everyone wished her a pleasant evening, before returning to their idle chitchat.

Only one member of the group kept their farewell silent from everyone else; out the corner of his eye Steve watched his comrade vanish through the doorway into the darkened hall.

"Night Astrid."

12:30AM.

By now everyone had vacated the kitchen, disappearing to their beds or if they were Bruce Banner the lab; everyone except Tony, who was laid out unconscious on the sofa snoring mercilessly, doing his very best impression of a rhino in heat.

Also in the room seated in same spot from earlier, was Steve. The super soldier sat quietly sipping on a Budweiser, flicking a bottle top lazily between his fingers, with his thoughts happily replaying the events from the evening.

He'd watched his friends drink their body weight in alcohol, consuming his fair share as they went. They did get round to ordering Chinese food, and Steve tried Lemon chicken for the first time, which he enjoyed immensely.

He participated in the card games, winning himself a respectable $240, after conveniently neglecting to mention to the others he played a lot of card games in the army, then towards the end of the evening, the soldier and Clint managed to break up a small scuffle between Stark and Thor, which unsurprisingly Tony started, and fortunately only ended up with him stealing Thor's Boot.

Not long after, to everyone's satisfaction, their prayers were answered when the Iron-idiot succumbed to the copious amounts of alcohol in his body, crashing out on the settee, leaving it safe enough for the rest of the team to disperse.

One after another Steve wished them good night, and thanked them for a pleasant evening. He debated going to bed himself, but strangely, the Captain found he was so very far from tired.

In fact he was almost the complete opposite. Steve was more awake now than earlier on in the day. A feeling of unsettled nerves seemed to be writhe in the soldiers veins, almost like he'd spent the day drinking coffee and given himself the jitters.

An option would've been to disappear down to the gym, or run a few laps around the courtyard to burn off some of the unwanted excess energy, but again he didn't feel in the mood. While he sat contemplating how to eradicate the feeling of restlessness from his mind, a small sound pricked at his ears, distracting him from the bottle top.

Rogers' furrowed his eyebrows, cocking his head to the side, straining to drown out the obnoxious snores coming from Stark.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

It was getting closer, echoing off the walls outside the kitchen.

 _Tap. Tap. Tap._

Then it became apparent. The noise was the sound of high heels clicking on marble, and they were heading his way.

Twisting his large frame round to get a better view of the entrance, Steve for the second time that evening witnessed Astrid enter from the corridor.

Still looking absolutely flawless.

Seeing her again made his heart jump into his throat, and the nervous apprehension which coursed through his body for the majority of the evening suddenly vanished.

The old familiar heat of bashfulness flushed over Steve's skin again; however luckily AJ's attentions were instantly distracted by Tony, spread-eagled unceremoniously on the leather cushions, giving Steve the chance he needed to will his traitorous cheeks out of their new fuchsia colouring.

Carefully making her way over to the sofa, the mutant watched over her sleeping chum, expelling a small laugh at Tony's expense when he started to dribble on the pillow. He was quite the picture.

"Oh Pep, you lucky girl." Astrid giggled. She was stroking her fingers affectionately through Tony's fringe, when her focus moved to Steve.

"Hey!" Astrid's dusky blue eyes lit up at the sight of him.

"Hi." Steve managed to keep the squeak out of his voice long enough to reply.

"How longs he been out?"

"About an hour or so."

"Oh dear! Someone's getting old!" She paused. " Is that Thor's shoe?"

"Don't ask?"

She chuckled again, taking note of Steve's advice.

Crouching down by the arm of the sofa where Tony's head rested, Astrid placed a hand on each of his temples.

"What are you doing?" Asked Steve, surveying her curiously as Astrid's striking blue irises swirled.

"I'm rehydrating him, so he doesn't wake up with such a hangover in the morning."

"That's thoughtful of you."

"I suppose." The melancholy tone in Astrid's usually cheerful voice, along with her quiet demeanor had not gone unnoticed by the Captain. If anything the obvious sadness concerned him.

Finishing up the quick fix de-tox on Tony, Astrid pressed another kiss onto his forehead, leaving a secondary lipstick mark over-lapping the original she'd placed earlier. She ruffled the brown hair on top of Starks crown, and gracefully brought herself to her feet, before advancing over to Steve.

Upon her approach, Astrid placed a hand on her cohort's shoulder squeezing it with tentativeness, then glided round to the other side of the counter.

Steve kept his eyes transfixed on his quiet ally, furtively observing her movements.

He watched her open the large, oversized fridge and the bright fluorescent lighting swarmed around her, projecting a silhouette on to the wall behind Steve. AJ pulled out two cold Heinekens, curtly bumping the door closed with her hip.

"I'm surprised to see you up actually." She flicked the top off both beers, handing one to the soldier.

Steve graciously accepted the beverage, thanking her with a nod.

"Why's that?"

"No particular reason, it's just you're normally in bed by now."

"You keeping tabs on me Ma'am?" Rogers exhibited a playful smirk.

"No Sir, just making an observation." She ended the sentence with a wink from her enticing eyes. Steve felt himself glowing again.

"I'm just not tired at the moment."

"That's fair enough; If you're staying up though, would you mind if I kept you company for a bit?" Again sadness ebbed in her voice.

"No Ma'am not at all."

Happy with his answer, Astrid made her way around the counter and slid herself up on the stool next to him, allowing her to sit at eye-level with her companion.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. There is however one condition."

"What's that's?"

"I want you to tell me what's wrong?"

For a moment she was silent, doing nothing but staring back at him with an expression of surprise.

"Nothing...Nothing's wrong, it's just been a long night." Dismissing his concern with a false smile.

"I've seen you after many a long night Astrid, and you've never been this quiet. So what's bothering you?"

AJ picked at her beer label.

"Astrid?"

"If I tell you Steve, please promise you wont say anything to the others?" Seeing the desperation in her eyes, Rogers reassured her.

"I wont say anything, I promise. What happened?"

Astrid took a deep breath.

"I...I had a date tonight."

The familiar pang from earlier tweaked from somewhere deep inside Steve's gut. He didn't want to ask about the details but knew he had too.

"Really? How did it go?"

"AWFUL!" Astrid buried her head in her hands, whilst forcing out an unconvincing giggle. "Oh God it was awful!"

 _Good!_ Steve thought as the jealousy came roaring back to the surface.

"Why? What happened?"

"Oh, it was just a nightmare from start to finish."

"How so?"

"Do you really want me to go into it?"

"If it makes you feel better then yes, I do."

"I just feel…"

"What?"

"Embarrassed…"

Steve sighed.

"You have nothing to be embarrassed about Astrid. You can tell me anything. Whenever you're ready."

"God where do I start?" She chuckled again. "The guy I met was rude, arrogant, obnoxious, conceited, and in short, a totally wanker! Every time I spoke he interrupted me, he made several lewd comments about my dress and figure, as he shamelessly eyeballed every other girl in the room. Then when he wasn't talking about himself, the only thing he actually wanted to talk to me about was The Avengers! Which for obvious reasons, I couldn't talk about. He even asked if the Black Widow was coming along."

Now the envious spike in Rogers' chest was rapidly replaced with red-hot flame of anger.

Steve cared a lot for Astrid, and respected her greatly. So to hear the woman who'd fought by his side and helped save the world, had been treated with such disrespect and her feelings so callously disregarded, filled the super soldier with absolute rage.

"Stupid, little punk!"

"And all of that happened while we were sitting at the bar! So, I made the decision to not want to be anywhere in the general vicinity of the creep, I got up and left. But not before zapping him with one of Coulson's legendary memory wipe stickers. He'll forget everything from the last 24 hours."

"You have access to those?" Steve smirked.

"Yeah a few; at least this way I won't have to worry him selling bullshit stories to the press about how he slept with me."

 _I'D BREAK HIS GOD DAMNED NECK!_ Steve's inner voice reared up with anger, but fortunately his outward reply was a little more composed.

"Good thinking. So, where have you been all night?"

"I went down to my office at the docks. I had a stack of paperwork I needed doing, so went and got some of that done. Pretty pathetic huh?"

"Why didn't you come back here?"

Astrid stared down at the partially torn beer label.

"I wanted to be on my own for a while. I wasn't really in the mood for another interrogation."

Seeing the pain behind her smile disheartened Steve; it saddened him to know she'd spent the evening alone, humiliated to the point where she couldn't even face her friends.

"You want to know what bothered me the most though Steve?"

"What's that?"

"I can handle the fact this guy was a complete prick; I can let the stupid comments go over my head, and I can even forgive the green, floral shirt. But, what hurt me the most was it took me about 30 seconds after meeting him to realise, he thought he was going on a date with an Avenger, with Aquarius; and it took him the same amount of time to realise he was actually on a date with me, Astrid; and he made absolutely no attempt to hide his disappointment."

Once again Astrid managed another fake smile. Steve hated seeing her this way. But on the other hand, he admired her tenacity in attempting to brush off the obvious pain she was feeling.

"Why did you go?"

"It was a blind date, set up by the friend I was telling you all about earlier; she begged me to go, so I did for her. If I'd had even the smallish notion of what he was like, I certainly wouldn't have wasted my time."

"Some friend..."

"I don't blame her, she was only trying to help."

Steve was confused. "In what way?"

"She doesn't want me to be alone."

Something in inside Steve's chest hurt.

"You're not alone Astrid."

"I know. I know that Steve. It's just... with a life like ours it's difficult to meet someone; people who care about you begin to worry, and sometimes take it upon themselves to try and help."

Her words struck a cord, this was definitely something he empathized with. The soldier thought back to all the times he'd been in the same position, and other members of the group, especially Natasha, tried to set him up on dates.

All had failed.

"However,"

Astrid added.

"It is a tad insulting when your friends try to set you up with the likes of a chauvinistic, narcissistic arse wipe!"

Steve laughed. But on the inside he was fighting off every instinct he had, to hunt the guy down and pound him into the pavement. This had nothing to do with duty, he didn't need to defend 'Astrid's honour', fight her battles for her, because he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself; but this guy had hurt his friend. He'd hurt someone he cared about, and that wasn't right. So now all Steve wanted to do, was make this idiot feel just as small and worthless, as he'd dared to do to with Astrid. With the powerful connections Steve knew of, he could probably find him in a matter of seconds.

However common sense kicked in; and knowing none of it would make her feel any better, Rogers decided on another tactic. Something he wouldn't normally do when it came to Astrid or women in general; he became brave.

"Well, the guy's clearly a jackass! And if you don't mind me saying, he's lost out on something pretty special."

For the first time since her return that evening, Astrid's smile wasn't false.

"Don't get me wrong, 'Aquarius' is great! Obviously! I mean she flies, controls water, and is strong, super strong."

He triumphed, when he managed to extract a shy laugh from his fellow fighter.

"But, 'Astrid'... now,she is so much better. She's smart, brave, kind, loyal and has a killer smile! She's the one you want in your corner. She's the one who'll be standing shoulder to shoulder with you when things are going South, and she's the one you can share a beer with after a long hard day, and always come away feeling better about everything, because she's done everything she can to make you feel better. She'd do anything for anyone. She loves her family and she loves her friends."

Pointing his muscular arm towards the sofa; both of them looked over at Stark who shuffled around in the sea of cushions, clutching tightly at the claimed item of Asgardian footwear. Astrid laughed, watching Tony with adoration, before turning back to Steve.

Summoning all his pluck, Rogers carried on.

"She also has the prettiest eyes I've ever seen."

The tables turned; now it was him making his companion blush. Astrid's cheeks became rose-red and she pushed a lock of stray golden hair back behind her ear.

"Astrid, you are one of a kind. You're beautiful inside and out, and tonight you looked incredible. I'd choose you over Aquarius any day, and any one who doesn't realise just how incredible you are doesn't deserve you. I can honestly, say hand on heart, that I don't know what I'd do without you; and I can't imagine not seeing you every day."

From the pink glow on her alabaster skin, to the shimmering glaze coating her eyes, the appreciation for his words was evident.

"So if you're willing to share with me," Steve added. "Then, I'd like to know everything about you. "

Warmth and gratitude spread through Astrid like a wild fire. She had no idea how much she needed to hear those profound lovely words, and the fact they came from Steve, one of the most virtuous people she'd ever met, touched her deeply. The stunned mutant could do nothing except hold back tears, unable to even say thank you because she knew the moment those words passed her lips she'd burst into tears.

Instead, AJ moved a little closer placing her head against his bicep. She nuzzled it with affection, inhaling the faint aroma of his masculine cologne, lingering on his shirt.

Rogers fell silent. His lion heart suddenly abandoned him and he now sat rigid, unsure whether or not he should be reciprocating the action in someway. The freshness of Astrid's apple shampoo, mixed with the familiar scent of her perfume, created an intoxicating elixir. It awakened his senses from head to toe, every time he caught a nose-full and even more so now as she rested against him. He breathed her in, wanting desperately to find the courage to press a kiss on top of Astrid's wild curls. But before Steve had a chance to respond, she moved herself away.

Hiding the awkwardness he returned to playing with the bottle top.

A minute or two past with neither of them saying anything. Steve began to worry he's newfound bravery had been a little too much, and instead of complimenting Astrid he'd actually embarrassed her.

"My favourite food is sticky toffee pudding."

'Sorry?"

The bottle top got away from him, skidding off across the counter.

"You said you wanted to know everything, Captain."

A wide smirk breached Steve's face; he hadn't upset her.

"Yes Ma'am I do."

"So lets start with the little things. My favourite food is sticky toffee pudding."

"Sticky toffee pudding huh?"

"Yep! With Custard. My Mum used to made it every Sunday for my brother, my sister and I when we were kids; it was like our treat before going back to school the next day. Actually thinking about it now, it could possibly have been some sort of a bribe."

"Ha ha! Sounds good. Mines popcorn."

'Really! You're telling me the 'good ole' American boy's' favourite food ISN'T in fact a cheeseburger?"

"Ha! No, Sorry not to be a cliché."

"I forgive you don't worry, thousands of Americans may not but I will." Swigging on her beer, AJ placed her elbow on the worktop, and rested her chin on the palm of her hand. "So, why popcorn?"

Steve took a deep breath.

"It reminds me of my Mom." He sighed. "When I was a kid, we'd go to the movies whenever we could, and every time she'd buy me this huge bucket of buttered popcorn, which was nearly as big as me; we'd always end up sharing because I couldn't eat it all by myself."

His lips thinned.

"When she died, I still went when I could, but I didn't buy the popcorn."

"Why not?"

'I had no one to share it with."

A lump formed in Astrid's throat. Her thoughts went to her parents. Just like Steve and his Mother, she also shared a special bond with her parents. Losing them was unfathomable, and the mutants heart strings tightened at the image of poor little Stevie seated alone in a crowded theatre missing his Mum.

"Looks like we're both suckers for family."

Nudging him playfully.

"Yeah, I guess we are." He said, nudging her back. 'I'm glad you came back tonight.

"I'm glad it was you I came back to."

At that moment, Steve and Astrid's bright blue eyes became magnetized. They locked on to each other with a hypnotic hold, unable and un-wanting to tear away from each other's prolonged gaze. Forgetting about everything and everyone around them, as though they were the only two people left in the whole world.

Until harsh reality came crashing down around them, in the form of one of Tony's beastlike snores..Startled by the sudden rude bump back to earth, the two Avengers laughed, pretending the fleeting connection never happened.

"I'd forgotten about that drunken idiot!"

"If only it were that easy!" Steve replied. "So, come on! I want to hear more about Astrid."

Swallowing down the last drop of his Budweiser, Rogers swapped the empty bottle for the beer Astrid pulled out the fridge for him.

"Well, before we start,' She grinned. 'Did I hear something earlier about tequila?"

Their night ensued, filled with mutually enjoyable conversation. Steve and Astrid drank like champions, consuming several beers and what ever was left of Tony's imported tequila. All the while confiding in one another, divulging their inner desires, thoughts and feelings and desires; and occasionally setting the world to rights.

The two veterans spoke about their time in the Army and Navy, swapping their own tales and adventures. It felt good for Steve being able to share his stories, conversing with someone who'd been through similar experiences, saving lives and of course losing friends. The subject then became a little too emotional for the soldier; dredging up the past, made him realise how much he missed the Howling commandos, and his guilt over Bucky was still as raw as the day it happened. So they moved on to a more jovial topic, which consisted of confessing pet peeves and guilty pleasures. However, once Steve found out Astrid's pet peeve was people wearing socks in bed, and Astrid discovered Steve's guilty pleasure was singing in the shower, mocking each other came next on the agenda.

Astrid talked about her Great- Grandfather Howard, who like her, was also a mutant. She explained that he was the one who'd trained her from a young age, showing her how to control and hone her powers. While also being responsible for igniting her ambition to become a marine biologist, when he took her to see the Great Barrier Reef when she was 11 years old. Afterwards, the water bearer reiterated a humorous tale of when she played an angel in the school nativity, and got into trouble for taking her role a little too seriously, when she flew up into the rafters of the school hall scaring the life out the teacher.

Steve spoke mainly about his Mother and Father, and how much he missed them. He also confessed to his love of all things Brooklyn, and to this day he was quite happy to admit his favourite team were the Brooklyn dodgers, and he collected their baseball cards. He recalled his thoughts and feelings the day he became a super soldier, leading him to speak with affection about the one man who gave him a chance when others wouldn't. Doctor Abraham Eskine.

"He made me swear to always be a good man."

"Well, you've definitely kept your promise. He'd be very proud."

"You think so?"

"Yes Steve, I really do! How can you even question that?"

Rogers gazed sadly at the thick amber liquid rolling around at the bottom of his glass tumbler.

'Steve...Remember the day of the invasion? And you and Tony got into that little spat, bickering like a couple of school kids? And he said everything special about you basically came from a lab?"

He nodded.

"Well he was wrong! You can't bottle who you are Steve. Selflessness, kindness, human decency, none of that was in the serum. What makes you special Steve, is YOU. Eskine knew this, and that's why he chose you. A decision of that magnitude I can assure you would never be taken lightly, and for you to be trusted with something as important as a super power, I genuinely can't think of a bigger compliment. The rest of us weren't given a choice, we were handed this huge responsibility, and maybe there are those who would argue that we don't deserve what we've been given. But you, you are the complete opposite. You've never let anyone or anything, no matter how big or formidable stop you from doing what's right; and time and time again you've proved yourself worthy of possessing the power you've been given. You're the bravest one of us all, Steve, and the world would be a much better place if more people in it were like you."

"Thank you Astrid."

"You're welcome."

Her dazzling blue eyes sparkled at him above her dimpled cheeks. "And promise me, if anyone tells you otherwise, you send them my way and I'll kick their arse."

He chuckled.

"I promise. There is one downside to having the serum through; my cells regenerate much quicker now, slowing my aging but it also means I can't get drunk."

Strengthening his statement Steve gulped down a generous serving of scotch.

"Neither can I." Astrid added.

"Really?"

Stevethought about what he'd said. "Well actually the collection of empty beer and liquor bottles do give it away."

It was the true, the assortment of empties littering the counter in front of them was a clear sign of the duo's drinking capabilities.

"So what's your reason?"

"Well, like what you saw earlier with our friend over there," She gestured to Stark.

"Because of my mutant cells, my body is constantly rehydrating itself; and like you, I heal and regenerate quicker than most, so any damaged cells I end up getting are dealt with almost immediatly; so no forgetful nights or hangovers for me."

Rogers was pleased to hear this. At least the next time the gang decided to stay in and drink, there would be one person he could spend the evening with and not have to worry about them becoming a hideous drunken mess.

"Besides," She quipped. "Who needs alcohol when you have great company."

Lifting her drink from its coaster AJ presented it to the Captain, who in turn raised his own.

"Here's to good company,... and for never being light weights."

"Amen soldier!"

Their glasses chinked, and down went the drink.

"Hmm! Hmm!"

Steve thought of something else mid slurp to tell her.

"Following on from the subject of drinking; my favourites are root beer, coffee black and an ice cold Bud."

"Ah ha! There's the 'good ole' American boy!' Right Okay, mine are Gin and Tonic, peppermint tea and cherry cola."

"I beat up Adolf Hitler over 200 times!"

'I have a tattoo!"

Steve gagged, malt whiskey came flying out of his mouth saturating the counter, with the sudden regurgitation causing Astrid to jump out of her skin.

Leaping from the stool, Steve made a beeline towards the paper towels. "I am so sorry! Damn it! I didn't get any on you did I?"

"No, I'm good. Don't worry Steve I'll get this."

She went to wave her hand over the projectiled liquid to make it disappear.

"No, no!" He stopped her. "It's my fault I'll clean it up."

Ripping a bundle of sheets off the roll, Steve set to work mopping up the mess. "So...A tattoo?"

Steve wiped the towels over the stream of deposited whiskey. "Where? What is it?"

Chuckling lightly, Astrid rose from her seat. She ran a slender finger along the curve of her stomach, and up over the top of her left hip.

"It's here, hidden away."

"What do you have?"

"It's a group, or using the correct term a "bale" of sea turtles. 4 of them, one for my Mum, Dad, brother and sister in their favourite colours."

Rogers nodded his head in approval.

"Sounds nice. Maybe I'll get to see it one day."

Astrid raised an eyebrow, somewhat what stunned at his response. It took Steve a moment to replay what he'd said in his head, before the realisation of his words hit him.

"Oh God!"

He wanted the floor to open up and swallow him whole. His blue eyes widened in horror and his cheeks exuded so much warmth Astrid felt the heat from her spot on the stool. The mutant didn't want to ridicule him but the moment she saw the 'rabbit-caught-in-headlights' expression on his face, a giggle fit ensued.

"I'm... I'm sorry! I..I don't know why I said that! Oh God!" He stammered, slapping a palm to his forehead.

"Ha! Its fine." Astrid answered, whilst trying to compose herself.

"I didn't mean!"

"I know."

"I'm sorry!"

"Don't be."

" I just meant."

"I know what you meant Steve, and it's Okay. But who knows, one day you might see it."

His eyes bulged again. Steve wiped the counter surface, and nervously tried to hide the happy smirk from his present company.

Once all the cleaning up was done, he disposed of the wet rags, and re-filled his glass with yet another generous serving of Tony's 15-year-old scotch. Steve then sat back down in his rightful place next to Astrid.

"Remind me I owe Stark a new bottle of whiskey."

Raising his glass to AJ for a second time.

"I'll go halves with you if you come with me to Mexico to replace the tequila?"

"DONE!"

They sat quietly for a moment, smiling shyly back and forth at one another, thinking to themselves about what an incredibly enjoyable and spontaneous night they'd shared together. Steve found yet another bottle top to fiddle with, and as he played Astrid stole a moment to admire the Captain.

Her bright blue eyes ran over him with inquisitiveness, taking in all the details of his face. His strong proud jaw, with the partnership of indents left in his cheeks from his smile lines, and the pout of his pink lips.

The elemental even noticed the slightest touch of sadness hidden in his kind blue eyes, which were far too old for his youthful looks. Across the top of his forehead, Astrid spotted a tiny round scar hiding under his fringe, more than likely from a dose of the chicken pox young Stevie suffered during his childhood.

In the few hours that past, Astrid thought about how Steve had been so much more than a teammate. He'd been a friend, a confident, going above and beyond to make her feel better after the terrible evening she'd endured. Steve was a good man, one of the best men she'd every met. He was the exception, Steve was unlike any other man, or any other person she'd ever met. He was a rare, unique and beautiful old soul, and thankfully nothing would ever change him.

Steve caught Astrid's eye line, smiling up at her for the hundredth time that evening. But for the first time that night, Astrid felt something else.

Something she'd not expected too. She felt the butterflies.

"Steve."

"Yeah?"

"Can I take you somewhere?"

"Take me somewhere? Now?"

"Yeah. I want to show you something."

She saw the blush resurface on the Captain's face.

"No, not my tattoo!"

Steve promptly looked down at his hands, hiding yet another boyish grin.

"Sure; where did you want to go?"

AJ drank down the last remaining sips of her beer, slamming the empty bottle on the worktop.

"Get your coat. It's going to be chilly."

A short time later, Astrid and Steve exited the wide front doors at the foot of the tower, breathing in a deep lungful of the brisk Sunday morning air.

Darkness still loomed over the world for the time being, but the sun would be rising soon. Rogers zipped up his dark brown leather jacket, folding the collar up round his neck to escape the chill. Astrid acquired a long black military styled overcoat from her room throwing it around her shoulders as they left.

"Right, better get going." Frantically she fastened the bronzed buttons up the front, one by one. "We've got about an hour."

"OK."

Rogers moved his eyes back and forth around the forecourt at the numerous vehicles parked in their individual spaces.

"Which car- Omph!"

Without warning, Astrid snatched him by the wrist, whipping him round to face her.

"We don't need a car."

She stepped forward, pressing her body firmly up against his, feeling the flutter of his heart thump rapidly through his chest as they made contact.

Astrid snaked her arms around the soldier's large torso, keeping her comely stare locked on Steve's. Brushing her face up against the Soldiers cheek, the warmth of which was welcoming in the cool morning breeze, and whispered into his ear.

"Hold tight."

Being the good soldier he was, Rogers obeyed her instructions. Enveloping Astrid within his trunk like arms, hugging and squeezing her curvaceous form till he heard the smallest breath escape her lungs. The moment his vice like grip ceased, Astrid pushed up off the ground and soared into the inky darkness of the night.

Dewy morning precipitation hidden in the low morning clouds, soaked the ascending couple as Astrid rose high up above the New York skyline; higher and higher she climbed, pushing through the fluffy stratocumulus, till they were met with a burst of blinding light, not from the sun but from the blazing lights of the illuminated wondrous city coming into view from far below.

Even at this early hour, yellow taxi cabs meandered slowly through the downtown traffic; with the streetlights and all-night diners, flooding the gloomy walkways and roads, which carried weary travellers to unknown destinations.

Brightness etched perfect lines in the darkness, exposing the city's veins and arteries. Flowing like lava, meandering, stretching and reaching away from the non-stop pumping heart of New York.

Flying straight as an arrow, and with the speed of a rocket, Astrid in no time at all brought the two of them up and over the mighty structure of the Brooklyn Bridge; the metal goliath guarding the outskirts on the city, ushered them a silent goodbye as Astrid and Steve rapidly headed out towards the Atlantic.

Onward they dashed further and further into the great blue deep. Within minutes, the bloom of the Big Apple's streets and buildings, the hustle and bustle of early morning life gradually began to disappear behind them, succumbing frivolously to the dark. The immense white hazy halo, the crowning glory of the City became ever dimmer, fading like a dying flame on a wax candle clinging to the last length of wick fighting to stay ablaze. But the darkness was too thick, too over powering; it greedily swallowed the Big apple whole. From over the top of Astrid's shoulder Steve vigilantly witnessed the light extinguish.

Petrifying blackness now engulfed them.

"Just us alone in the dark now." He murmured.

Against the coolness of the air Steve felt Astrid's lips crush onto his lobe. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up on point, as her hot breath seeped into his ear canal.

"Look up."

Once again he obeyed, and almost immediately Astrid heard the gasp of amazement jump from his chest.

"W-Wow!"

Above them, shining down silently from the infinite heavens, were the stars.

Far out away from the glow of the towns and counties, the brilliant magnificence of the celestial orbs, shimmered and sparkled even more radiantly than ever; billions of dazzling, silvery spots littered the sky, penetrating the gloom encasing them, diluting the hollow empty black making it appear a majestic dark blue.

Mesmerized, Steve feasted his eyes, staring opened mouthed and awestruck at the angelic, glittery novas.

"Just wow!"

He embraced Astrid with unbounded tenderness, comforted by the scent of the perfume in her hair. It had been a long time since he'd felt so totally at peace. Sailing high within the heavens, lost in the tranquility of the clouds, locked safely in Astrid's arms. He closed his eyes and listened; there was no noise, no car horns, no screams for helps or shouts of anger, everything had fallen to silence except for the low whistling of the wind rushing round them.

It was beautiful.

"Steve?"

It had been at least 20 minutes since Astrid last spoke to him. For most of the flight she'd remained silent, allowing the soldier to enjoy the starry morning sky; Rogers pried his attention away to answer her.

"Yeah?."

"I need you to do something for me."

"What's that?"

"I need you not to panic."

"OK. Wait... What!"

Before there was even a chance for him to process her request, the hypnotic allure of the stars and Steve's moment of harmony vanished. His stomach lurched, and the rest of his internal organs shifted as the duo plummeted from the sky.

Gravity took hold with ferocious weight, pulling the pair down towards the vast expanding wall of water beneath them. Astrid increased her speed, and they fell faster and faster. The frozen air washed over the lip of Steve's collar, down the length of his spine, causing a plague of goose bumps to swarm over his body. He twisted his head back, straining against the force of the descent, and got his first daunting look at the ocean ebbing ever closer.

"Erm…. Astrid."

The mutant didn't reply, she was concentrating solely on their course. They were nearing the surface. Steve heard the crashing of the waves, and droplets of seawater splattered on the back of his neck. The contents in his stomach, the lemon chicken and the half bottle of scotch churned; his insides felt as if they were beginning to liquefying, a lesser man would've vomited, but Steve kept it together. He crushed his eyes closed, ground his teeth, gripped his comrade and braced helplessly for impact.

Bracing…

Bracing…

Waiting…

Nothing...

Nothing happened. There was no impact. No collision. It never came.

The salt water was alive in his senses, so he knew they were close. The sound of the wind whistling round them was muffled, but still distinctive.

With an air of caution, Steve gingerly opened his eyes.

"WHAT THE...!"

He and Astrid were still moved at the same hair-trigger speed as before, heading forward into blackness; only now the stars watching over them were gone, and the merciless ocean waves were now above their heads.

With no effort at all, Astrid manipulated the water creating a transparent breathable bubble, protecting the duo from the freezing temperatures and crushing forces of the sea. Their own personal two man submersible.

"How you doing there soldier?" AJ's sweet voice echoed inside the bubble.

Steve stumbled over his words. "I'm! I...! Wha…! We're in the ocean aren't we!"

"We certainly are."

His stomach had only just settled after the sudden plunge from the stratosphere, before the nausea set back in for a second time.

"Not far to go now, I promise."

But as comforting as her words tried to be, Rogers maintained his firm grip ignoring the knots in his gut.

This was beyond belief, he was fully aware of Astrid's abilities, and the things he'd witnessed her do during battle were nothing short of God-like; but this was a completely different ball game entirely, and something he was not prepared for.

A complexity of feelings wrestled in Steve's head, an acute mixture of amazement paired with shock took the lead. A force so great and powerful, such as the ocean inhabiting over 80% of the planet, something that had destroyed civilizations, and devoured entire cities within a blink of an eye, was here bowing to Astrid's will like a housetrained pet. He pushed the worry to the back of his mind, determined to keep it there.

"Everything alright Steve?"

Rogers' was met with a caring squeeze from the pilot.

"Everything's fine Astrid. But you still haven't told me where we're going."

More minutes went by with the pair entangled in one another's grasp, drifting fluidly through the murky waters of the abyss. It was approximately half an hour since their feet left the ground outside the front of the Avenger tower, and it was the first time in the flight Steve notice Astrid reduce her speed. They sailed onward at the slower momentum for another couple hundred yards or so, till the gradual decline in Astrid's speed brought the duo to a stop altogether. The two Avengers now hovered silently in the vast black, frigid waters shrouded safely inside their protective shield.

"Here we are."

The soldier poured over the surroundings in a fruitless attempt to see what he was missing. Evidently the only thing he saw, was his own reflection mirrored in the surface of the sphere due to the glow from Astrid's eyes.

"Ah...gonna need some help, Astrid."

The blonde mutant pointed to the right side of the bubble. Squinting through the bleak, Steve followed the trail of her finger, attempting to find what she was aiming at. From nowhere, a faint eerie, aurora proceeded to emit from the deep.

A colossal curved glass object bloomed into his vision, rounded in shape like an enormous igloo. Its incandescence practically exploded within the cove where the semi-circle was built, breathing life into the sunless sea seemingly warming the water, which immersed the couple. The burn from the brightness forced Steve to cover his eyes, as they were made to suddenly adjust to the light.

Here in all its exquisite majesty was an underwater abode; all ablaze with phosphorescence, nestled in solace offering sanctuary safely at the bottom of the ocean, far away from everything and everyone.

Astrid remained vigilant on Rogers, the numerous facial expressions the soldier exhibited during the spectacle made her grin. Steve's fingers dug their way into her back, with the beat in his chest intensifying as more and more of the aquatic habitat appeared.

"Astrid? Is this?"

"Welcome to my home.'

Holding the Captain close, the mutant propelled herself and her companion towards the grand submerged domicile. Advancing on the hub, a round opening materialized in the spherical roof allowing Steve and Astrid to sink down into a long chute. Once they'd passed through, the portal above their heads closed, sealing them in.

Steve's brown boots and Astrid's blue strappy sandals, touched down on the smooth white marble surface at the bottom of the shaft; the water commenced with dispersing silently around them.

"Whoa!"

Gravity took hold, and Steve discovered his legs had became gelatinous because of the duration of the flight; his sturdy knees gave out a little wobble, and he fell towards Astrid almost head-butting her in the process.

"Easy there, Steve." Catching him before they reached loggerheads.

"Sorry...sorry Astrid." He apologised, a little embarassed at his clumsiness.

"And there you were, telling me you couldn't get drunk." Reassuring him completely.

"Thought I had you fooled! Sorry, my legs must have fallen asleep."

"It happens, I fell flat on my face once after a long haul back from London; you'll be fine in a minute."

The water finished emptying, and another doorway appeared in the glass behind Astrid, allowing them to step precariously out of the flume into the grand living room of the impressive dwelling.

"You good?"

She asked with her arms still wrapped around Steve's torso.

"Yeah. Thanks."

"OK Bambi."

Gingerly Astrid released him, and stood back from the soldier, watching him wiggle like a newborn baby giraffe trying to regained his balance. At the same time she unbuttoned her thick jacket, letting it drop from her shoulders, throwing it over the back of a nearby chair.

"Mind your feet."

Calling back to the Captain, as she wandered off across the room.

"I'm fine Astrid, really."

"No Steve, mind your feet!"

"Huh? What the-!"

The floor under him opened up, causing Rogers to really test the reliability of his limbs as he hastily jumped out of the way of the wide recess, before he could be sucked down with the large tube.

After the flume disappeared beneath the ground, and everything settled the Captain paused for a moment, quietly treating himself to a glimpse at the elegance of Astrid's home.

The space where the tube occupied no more than a second before, had now been replaced with a round, blue translucent glass coffee table which spiralled up from the floor. Surrounding the table was a plush white, circular sofa littered with a plethora of green scatter cushions, curving round the circumference of the central seating area.

The body of the building appeared to consist of white marble and chalk, making up most of the walls for the rounded room, and were adorned with several pieces of expensive looking sea life art work, similar to the pieces Astrid kept in her office at work; amongst the art, adding a touch of warmth and homeliness to the plain walls, were some unusual shaped mirrors, and numerous family photographs putting faces to the names Rogers had heard throughout the evening.

A giant wall made entirely out of glass was at the far end, and ran up above the living quarters, creating the dome shaped ceiling where they'd just entered from, the height of which could easily rival the one back at the tower.

On his right was a desk appearing to be fashioned from the casings of two World War 2 mines, playing host to a couple of computers, and some other complicated technical bits he didn't recognize. Opposite the desk to Steve's left, was an iron spiraled staircase; figures of mermaids were entwined and twisted within the metal, giving the admirer the sense they were swimming upwards, following whomever climbed their steps to the secondary level. Behind the staircase was a large, oak wood door, obviously leading off to another section of Astrid's home.

"Come on up when you're ready Steve."

The mutant was leading by example, already halfway up the spiral staircase.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Taking another quick glance round, absorbing any other details he could, Steve jogged over to the steps, and climbed them two at a time.

At the top of the stairs, Steve was greeted by a swarm books, there were hundreds of them, most of which were leather bound in numerous colours, spanning right across the length of the walls on giant white bookshelves. A lot of them from what Steve could gather, appeared to be first edition copies and were more than likely worth a pretty-penny.

There was a section especially for marine biology, with close to 50 books just on the one subject alone; Greek mythology was another popular choice in AJ's library, as well has World War 2 history, Astronomy, and the complete works of Stephen King. Just to name a few.

Squeezed amongst the multitude of manuscripts, were artifacts and aquatic memorabilia; hollowed out golden brown nautilus shells, fossils, and pieces of coral were all subtly placed carefully on the shelves.

But the oddest of all the items Steve saw, was a cuddly stuffed shark keeping guard at the end of one of the rows.

"Who's this little guy?"

Steve prodded the toy with his finger.

Astrid craned her head round to see.

"That's Frank, he's a present from my niece; he keeps an eye on the place when I'm not here."

"Nice to meet you Frank." He gave the Shark a jovial salute. "Keep up the good work!"

Astrid waited patiently at the other end of the curved walkway in front of the glass wall, giving Rogers some time to finish admiring all the treasures her home had to offer. Eventually he caught up to her, giddy with interest.

"Astrid this place is amazing; how long have you been down here?"

"A while now, I savaged most of the building from a disused submarine dock, and built it not long after I joined the Navy."

"Couldn't find anything affordable near the Hudson, huh?"

"Ha ha! No not with my salary."

"Does anyone else know you're down here?"

"Fury insisted he knew for "Security purposes", although I didn't give him the exact location; and if he knows, more than likely Coulson and Hill know too."

"What about Stark?"

"I've told Tony about it, but he's never been down here."

"So, am I the first person you've shown this too?"

The mutant nodded. The soldier was surprised, but extremely flattered she wanted to share with him something which meant so much to her.

"I feel honoured."

"But this isn't what I wanted to show you."

"Then what was?"

Continuing to grin at her perplexed houseguest, Astrid raised her hand and snapped her fingers together. All the lights in the abode simultaneously went out plunging the couple back in darkness once more.

"Astrid?"

"Wait for it."

"Wait for what?"

"The best bit."

She nodded her head towards the glass.

"The view."

Steve turned to the gigantic two-storey window, just in time to behold the radiant rays of the rising morning sun penetrating the murky waters, as it rose high above the cove.

Steve jumped back with amazement, as the apparent black wall in front of him suddenly burst forth with glorious, vivacious colours, revealing itself to be a wondrous creation of coral. Warm, golden streams of luminous sunlight flickered down covering every rock, plant and living creature with all its illuminating glory.

Bright vibrant purples, luscious greens and zesty oranges popped against the clear blue ocean. Tiny striped clown fish flitted in and out of shocking pink sea anemones, swishing lazily back and forth in the current. Rainbow coloured sea stars were squished into the crevices and holes, eroded into the rocks over time by the ever-flowing water; spot-fin butterfish and delicate, dancing seahorses grazed on the grass and algae growing along the rocky surface, while small crabs and shrimp scuttled busily about to and fro.

Amazed once again by the beauty of Astrid's world, Steve found himself immobilized, rooted to the spot with his mouth open, unable to tear his childlike eyes away from the astonishing aquatic community in front of him.

"Oh, look here he comes!"

"What? Who!" Rogers searched the coral for the answer.

From out of nowhere a large dark outline appeared above the them, briefly blocking out the sunlight, casting a shadow upon the watching pair. It was large in size, but it moved with an incredible amount of grace, swooping down through the water towards its bewildered audience.

Closer and closer it came, till Steve caught sight of what it was. A breath caught in his lungs, and for the first time in his life, he came face to face with the kind, humble eyes of a green sea turtle.

The majestic turtle measured at around 3 feet in length, with a dark hard shell and green tinted skin, propelling noiselessly past the clear glass AJ and Rogers were observing behind.

"Good morning, my gorgeous boy."

Astrid addressed the gentle beast as you would an old friend. The turtle appeared to recognize the water bearer; hovering inches away from the glass wall between them, with its big black eyes blinking fondly at her.

"Wow!"

All other words in Steve's vocabulary failed him. He surveyed Astrid interacting with the creature. She wielded the ocean forming a ghostly copy of her hand in the swell. Astrid tickled the underneath of its shell and scratched the tip of his nose. The turtle rolled in the water, undoubtedly enjoying the attention.

Before this evening, Steve was unable to recall a time where he'd seen her so genuinely happy. Astrid's love and admiration for marine life was beautiful to see, and bewitching to witness. All night long the two Avengers talked, shared everything to one another inarguably securing and strengthened their relationship. But now Steve came to realise, Astrid had been holding back apart of herself, not because she couldn't tell him, but because she needed to show him; and finally he saw what it was.

This was her, at her most honest, at her most vulnerable. This was her revealing her soul, and trusting the soldier with everything she had.

This was Astrid.

The turtle drifted over to the coral, nibbling hungrily on the grass. Following the movements of the reptile, Steve decided it was best to keep his eyes fixed on him rather than to continue ridiculously staring awe-struck at Astrid. No matter how much it pained him to look away.

AJ pretended she hadn't noticed the glance. She found his boyish euphoria beautiful to savor. It filled her with so much joy to see the happiness in his eyes, coupled with the wondrous amazement painted across his face.

A humbling concoction of satisfaction and excitement raced through her veins at the sight of seeing Steve so happy. Everything she'd shown him was a gift, a thank you for his affection and kindness. Astrid saw the gratitude within the soldier, even if he wasn't aware of it himself. There was just one thing left to give him, one last small token of appreciation Astrid wanted him to have.

Now was the perfect opportunity, while Steve continued to distract himself with the sight of the coral and the creatures it played host too. Astrid lent over, shut her eyes and pressed her delicate lips on to his cheek.

Within seconds, the mutant felt the clean-shaven skin of the super soldier flush from her lingering touch, and she was almost certain Steve was holding his breath. Relinquishing her lips from his cheek, Astrid opened her eyes to see Rogers looking back at her. They paused, standing nose-to-nose, AJ rested her head on his strong shoulder, with their lips were inches apart. A small tremble rippled over Steve when her warm breath collide with his own.

"Thank you."

The mutant whispered to the red-faced Captain, before moving away, proceeding to nonchalantly admire her own personal aquarium.

For a moment Steve was catatonic; staring perplexed and bashful at the side of Astrid face, till the synapses in his brain fired again enabling to him to speak.

"Thank you for what?"

"For the wonderful things you said earlier, for being the one who was still up when I got home, and for turning what started out as a really, really crappy night, into one of the best I think I've ever had. So thank you Steve, Thank you for everything."

Blushing slightly harder but managing to keep his cool, Rogers' smile became a little broader. Steve contemplated her words, mulling them over in his mind. They'd both fallen victims to undeniable happenstance, as though the entire evening was played out perfectly just for them, and them alone.

In turn, she'd given him a night to remember right from the get go. The in-depth personal conversation, the magical flight with full access to the stars, being the first person to be welcomed into her oceanic home, giving him his first experience with a green sea turtle, and to top it all off she kissed him.

Part of him felt it was he who should be doing the thanking. If she asked him to do it all over again tomorrow, he wouldn't hesitate for a second.

But rather than think about tomorrow, he wanted to enjoy the time he had with her now, to be lost in the moment with Astrid.

Steve closed the gap between them, connecting with Astrid's bare right shoulder, her eyes met with his. The swirling psychedelic colours of the reef bounced off her flawless face, and her bright eyes sparkled like diamonds. It was the most beautiful he'd ever seen her.

"I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything Steve; I'm just glad you're here."

Letting his instincts take control, Rogers wrapped his arm across her shoulder.

"Me too."


End file.
